A Leader's Journal
by xmaslightguy
Summary: Follow Enrico Dandolo as he records his thoughts while ruling his people. Read as he discovers new technologies, riches, and people through the ages, and watch as the events of the past quickly unfold to a climatic future!
1. Chapter 1

**3450 BC** - Chapter 1: Introductions

This is really amazing, isn't it? A few months ago, one of my scholars comes to me and started ranting on about things like letters, sentences, and this contraption called an alphabet. I asked him where this contraption was so I could see it, and wouldn't you know it, the fool pulled out a rock! I was so confused I almost fired the man as my leader scholar, but I'm glad I didn't. That rock had all these symbols engraved into it, and I've been learning how to interpret them. This thing, which he calls "writing," has completely changed my outlook, and lead me to record this journal. I'll explain more in a second, but first I'll say hello from the past! I am Enrico Dandolo, the immortal ruler of Venice.

So anyway, I'm writing this from the past. I can't say for sure how far in the past, but I plan on revising these entries at a future date when I understand more.

(_This is what an edit will look like. The original entry was made at some point around 3450 BC. I couldn't pinpoint it closer to the actual date due to a severe lack of any sort of record keeping. Makes me laugh honestly._)

This record will be kept to remember the history of my people, because frankly I don't trust them. Already I've seen evidence that they do enjoy embellishing facts with fantasy. Just the other day I was asked by a young mother to use my powers to cure her child, and the next day another woman was asking me to purge the child she was carrying within her. Honestly, besides never aging and being completely immortal, I don't have any powers!

Now that probably sounds ridiculous, and if I'm not around anymore when you read this then it was ridiculous and I probably died. Anyway, as far as I can tell, I am immortal. I've now watched at least 20 generations of people be born, have children, and die, while I have failed to accomplish any of the three. I was never born, I just existed. Imagine a rock sitting in the ground, do you know why it is there? And would it make a difference if you did? All you need to know is that the rock is there, can be assumed to have always existed in some form, and will remain so.

(_I felt the need to correct myself here. We now know that stone is certainly not permanent, and that it can be transformed by any number of processes. Instead think the universe itself. It may change appearance, but it will always exist and has always existed._)

However, please don't interpret this as making me all knowing or omnipotent. I very well may be the smartest human alive on known facts, but I'm on equal footing, if not worse, with my scholars when it comes to new ideas. Take this writing for example, I didn't come up with it. However, I will use it and never have to worry about having to pass the knowledge down to my children, which is my next point. I've been unable to father any children, much to several wives' extreme distress. On that note, you probably won't hear much mention of wives in this record. I've learned that to get that close to someone who will just quickly whittle away and die is an experience few can experience once, let alone how many times I have already.

(_My I was so naive back at this time. I will learn very quickly that love and wives are powerful forces, and so they will be playing a very important part in this journal._)

Finally, I can't die. Trust me, I've certainly tried, but that peace has evaded me endlessly. To give some examples, there was a time after the third generation passed that I attempted to kill myself. This went on for about a year or so, in which I never ate anything, walked around with an increasing number of branches forced through my body, and would constantly throw myself off any height surface I could find. This was all horribly uncomfortable to say the least, but never beyond that. I never came close to death, and so I was forced to continue on in misery. Don't worry, this record won't simply be me bringing you down. Have faith, I am much better. You see, I've discovered that while individual human lives may come and pass, the human spirit is just as immortal as myself. That is what I believe has caused me to exist, to be a Sheppard of sorts for this human spirit, for without my guidance, I'm sure that many more humans would pass away much sooner. So, I've made it my purpose to promote well being in all humans under my domain, and attempt to reason with as many as I can outside of my domain.

That domain is Venice, the grandest city of the world. Frankly it's the only city also, but first is first, regardless of the number of contestants, right? Anyway, we are situated on the coast of the great water (_later to be called The Ambirgo, one of three major oceans on this planet_). Our territory spans for miles in all directions landward, encompassing the beaches, the plains beyond them, the great forest after them, and ending with a mountain range we call the Teeth of The World. There are two passes through the teeth, but I've yet to see good reason to pass beyond them. We are content where we are, so why go looking for trouble? Besides, any of my citizens brave or foolish enough to venture through those passes has never been seen again.

(_This next part was not included in the original record_)

Venice sits on the smallest of three continents, called Minimus. Those citizens that disappeared actual discovered equally fertile land past the mountains in a central plain, and would form the city-state of Lye. This city state was discovered at a later date, with an accompanying entry in this record. Still continuing north of Lye, the continent turns into a jungle, and actually ends a few miles from the equator. To the west the mountains travel a few more miles and then end at The Ambirgo again, along with the plains, forests, and jungle. To the east, the land shifts up and passes through the equator, creating a very harsh desert. On the other side of this desert is a relatively small savannah, and then once again ocean. Besides Lye, another city-state would eventually form in this area.

To cover the other continents, we have the middle-sized of the three called Mynlurg, which actually held a total of 5 other nations and 3 city-states. Not that that is still the case, but you should know how that turned out anyway. Just in case you don't, it will also be in a later record. That land is located to the north of Minimus, and is split equally with either thick forest, or frozen tundra. This continent also has the most volcanic activity of any continent, and as such the nations there found both fertile farmland and rare minerals once the forests and snow were cleared.

The final continent is the largest called Gregatus, located to the west and east of the Minimus and Mynlurg, it almost spans the whole height of the world, touching the northern ice-cap and only a few hundred miles away from the southern. There were three nations and five city-states on this continent, and thanks to the immense size for them to spread into, all but one city-state are still there. The land has all forms of terrain, with the most notable grouping being the mountain range, which travels from halfway down the west coast to about three-quarters of the way down the east coast. It has plenty of points where the mountains are really just hills, and others were the land slops up and the mountains appear to disappear, so the north and south are never really separated. This range does disturb the air currents, so the north has a massive desert, while the south has fertile rainforests.

(_This continues the original record_)

Our city has grown since its founding 20 generations ago. At that point, we started with just 400 people, which I had gathered from across the basin we now call home. In the beginning there were some struggles between the people, and three main groups formed. The first are called Warriors, and at the time they represented more than half of the population. These people were so familiar with fighting each other that they didn't know what to do without anyone to attack. Both luckily and unluckily, it appears several tribes on the other side of the mountains discovered our community and sent their own fighters to pillage our city. The warrior's got their entertainment, and the other two groups managed to avoid being harassed for the most part.

The second group are called Workers. These people have taken an extreme liking to this new lifestyle of staying in one place and building up what we have. I nearly started a riot when I announced a wished for a palace to reside in, and every worker subsequently jumped at the chance to better each other. After many moons of the grandest house being outdone by a grander house, I put my foot down and claimed the best one at the time. Can't say I'm too disappointed, as I have more space than I know what to do with, and the view of the city on one side and ocean on the other is perfect. People from this demographic also farm the surrounding land, and I'm pressing them to expand so our population can continue to explode.

(_This group also will end up including the merchants that Venice will be built on. They just didn't really exist at this point_)

The last group are my personal favorite for reasons such as "writing," and that's the Scholars. These people are brilliant beyond comprehension, which is what makes them so good at what they do. They are given a problem, and find a new way to solve it. I remember a time when we were clearing some trees. The Warriors went at it like an enemy and hacked with their weapons. They downed the trees eventually, but their technique tired them quickly and damaged their weapons. The Workers attempted to use teams of two with axes to alternate hits on the trunk, and this worked fine, but wasn't very quick. The scholars really astonished me, since they took some coils of fiber, roped them between two tree trunks, and then fell a third on that fiber. Everyone was amazed when the weight of the third tree pulled the other two down also.

From these three groups, we've now grown to a population of over 10,000. Looking outside my palace as I record this, I couldn't be more proud of my people as the expand and improve. I think I'll be done writing for today, but I'm sure there will be many events to write about in the future, where ever that may lead.

* * *

**AN: ****This is my first fanfiction, but Civilization always inspires me to tell a story. This is not based on a single game, but on how I would love to see a game played out. If necessary, I may create the map described in this chapter, but that is a later task. Anyway, please Review so that I can learn what is enjoyable and what isn't, and also if you see potential for the series, or if I'm just going down an unnecessary path. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**3350 BC - **Chapter 2: Internal Conflict

Being an immortal ruler, I've already experienced every kind of day on my throne. Some days are really easy, and I can just admire the bustling city my people have created. My subjects accomplish their tasks quickly, no barbarians attack, and things are looking up. Other times, there is nothing I would rather do than bury myself in a hill-side and just wait hundreds of years for someone to randomly dig me up. When the weather is harsh, the people upset, or some other problem I can't seem to fix. Today, I wanted to dig a very deep hole...

To really understand why today was so terrible, we need to go back a moon (_One lunar cycle, or 26 days. This was how we told time back then_). Outside of Venice, about a day's walk, there is a large hill that has an opening in its side. For awhile now the people of Venice have known of this opening, and children from the surrounding farms would often play there. However, a moon ago, one of the farmers near this hill came into town with the most beautiful material I, nor any of my subjects, had ever seen. We thought he had grown it, but after much pestering, he admitted to finding it in the hill. I sent a team of workers immediately to explore this cave. They returned with baskets full of this material, which we had deemed the name gold. The cave appeared to be a source of this metal, and I immediately wished for the remaining metal to be unearthed and the gold brought back to Venice. However, all of my workers were already busy expanding our farmland, so I had to turn to the Warrior class and ask for their help.

A moon later, and the Warriors have laid claim to the hill as their own nation of Fist-Blood. I spent an entire day in conference with their leader, Lye Braveheart, and I've had to face the stubbornness of the Warrior class in force.

(_If that last name sounds familiar, it should. Braveheart would eventually become one of the Great Families, and Lye was basically their founder. However, many historians argue that it was really his grandfather, Gur'goh, that started the Braveheart family's ascent to power, when he became the strongest of the Warrior class in Venice._)

They are determined to keep their new nation, just as I am determined to either reclaim them as my citizens, or even better, send them over the mountains and be done with them. It is only a small portion of the Warriors, but I can't guarantee their numbers won't grow if they stick around. Their encampment consists of many trees stacked in a crude circle, with the branches all broken and sharpened. A grown man would have difficulty climbing through the bramble without stabbing himself, but the Warriors have also created slots to push spears through, making any such climb near impossible. The main weakness is the entrance, as they don't have a real gate, but since the rest of the encampment is so secured, the majority of the Warriors could focus on defending that gate. Essentially, it is not impenetrable, but it will cost many lives if I'm forced to attack it. I will rest now, and next sun once again try to convince Braveheart to leave my domain.

(_The following record was written within a few weeks of the previous_)

I'm certain I now despise the Warrior class, but I also now recognize their effectiveness. When all else fails, it seems brute force is the only solution. After almost half a moon, Lye and I have gotten no closer to an agreement. Several nights ago, he made the statement, "We won't abandon our nation, ever!" so I had the remaining garrison of Warriors in Venice come marching to the hill, and set up defenses around it. Braveheart took this as a direct insult, and in his anger, tried to hack off my head when I met him for discussions. I have to give him credit, as he broke four axes and a club before finally accepting that I was in-fact immortal. Next we had a less than civilized discussion, and it was agreed the Fist-Blood's would travel through the mountains and leave my domain. Sadly, I had to surrender to Braveheart all of the gold the Warriors had mined in the time they had claimed the hill. He expertly probed this hurt when he showed me the chests of gold uncovered. I nearly cried at the sight of it.

So those Fist-Blood's are finally off my hill, and I've accepted placing Workers in-charge of the mining, at the cost of less progress since I could only spare a few. As for the 200 Warriors now exiled, they have taken their wives and children, so now a host of over 600 of my previous citizens are making their way to the mountains. My heart breaks for them, but I just have to remember that they chose Braveheart over an immortal king, and they deserve whatever fate awaits them beyond the mountains. This has also caused a problem of sorts. With the increased farmland and a sudden loss of 600 citizens, Venice's food stores are full, and I can feel the city begging for improvement. In order to help this, I have announced a festival of love. It shall take place in two moons, and it will be used to encourage more children amongst the populace.

(_This festival would actually stand the test of time interestingly enough. Got to say, compared to some of the earlier festivals of love, the modern ones are just pathetic and boring. Anyway, I've decided to omit the next record, which mostly contained details of the event, and would probably take away from the true purpose of this journal. However, I will include the below portion, as it is extremely important_)

...After such a display, we desperately had to find a new town crier. I turned away from the scene, as several couples had actually been interested by the attempt and were now trying it themselves. As I walked away, I found myself alone in an alleyway. I wasn't afraid, since I couldn't die, but I did see a young woman with three Workers, and while it was evident the men were in the mood of the festival, the woman was obviously not. I moved in to stop them, as I had previously ordered the festival should be a time of joy, and no man would be allowed to force himself on a woman. The fools were so excited however, one of them tried to punch me! Being immortal has the advantage of allowing me to push my body beyond normal limits, and I quickly knocked out all three men. I offered to lead the woman home, and so I got to know her a bit better. Her name is Cherida, and she had some amazing ideas of how Venice could be. It may have been the festival feeling, but I thought they sounded brilliant. Writing them down, I can't help but feel embarrassed, however, maybe one day I will be looking over this record and be reminded of Cherida's vision. Anyway, she described a world where men and women were equals. Were a man was obliged and happy to stand up for a woman, and a woman was able to support a man. An existence in which a woman was born with a right to say her mind, and this couldn't be taken away, even at marriage. In fact, she then bounced back and said men needed this right too. She then proceeded to attack many of my actions, saying I was making decisions to control my people, rather than for my people. Writing this down, I realize I might just have to arrest Cherida. How dare a woman question the authority of her immortal king!

(_Cherida would become my wife later that year, and live with me for another 16 years before she passed away. During that time, she never stopped expressing her bold ideas, and I like to think she was the reason Venice obtained basic human rights centuries before any other nation_)

* * *

**A/N: It took longer than I wanted to write this chapter, but be glad. My original draft was much shorter and less detailed than this one, and it was only because I put off finishing it for long enough that I added to it and made a chapter I could accept. Because of this, I've decided to avoid making any sort of promise towards when the next chapter is released. Instead, I will place quality over quantity, and only release chapters when I'm satisfied with their content. And thank you for the reviews, I really appreciate them!**


End file.
